Anyway, his bat speed and wrist strength are truly elite. He adjusted well in the second half of the season, and started to change his approach. He was actually a much beter hitter with two strikes, so it finally got through to him that he needed to shorten up his swing. The results were pretty encouraging.

If he continues the progress, and sticks with the adjustments the Sox may give him a chance later in the year. That's how confident they are in his ability. I've heard you may see him at the big league level before Flowers.

A lot of people are ready to write him off, but some of that is just ignoring the human element of the game and what he had to endure at such a young age.

That's why these lists are so fickle. His talent at the plate is a lot better than many hitters on the list, but he was out of place at 20 years old in AA. That's a really tall order. His defense is never going to be much, and nobody really ever thought he would stay at third, so a lot of evaluators think he "lost value" when he was moved from third.